AB0238 HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AND CORRELATION WITH DISEASE ACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Authors: P. Tzanis, K. Klavdianou, S. Katechis, C. Katsimpari, L. Athanassiou, O. Gioti, I. I. Giannakopoulou, S. Koutsoviti, I. Sofianos, A. Lazarini, A. Fanouriakis, E. Theotikos, E. Kalavri, A. Elezoglou
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background Patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at risk for poor functional outcomes, affecting quality of life (QoL). SF-36 is a validated instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in various domains of physical and mental health 1 , and has been validated in RA. Nevertheless, data on the impact of RA disease activity on SF-36 scores in Greek patients are lacking. Objectives To compare SF-36 scores in Greek RA patients versus the general population and to assess the impact of disease activity on HRQoL. Methods Cross-sectional study in RA patients followed in the Department of Rheumatology, Asklepieio Voulas General Hospital (05-10/2021). Demographic characteristics, state of disease activity and current treatment for RA were recorded at most recent visit. All patients completed SF-36 questionnaires and were classified in three subgroups of DAS28-disease activity: i) Remission or Low disease activity (LDA), ii) Moderate disease activity (MDA), and iii) High disease activity (HDA). Data from the SF-36 validation study in the Greek general population with 1007 participants, were used as historical controls 2 . Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and linear regression were used for statistical analyses. Results 107 patients participated in the study (80,4% females, mean (SD) age 63.3 (12.1) years, 64.5% seropositive, 72% overweight or obese). One third (n=36) were active smokers and 63% (n=67) were receiving a biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD). Patients with RA exhibited low scores in all SF-36 domains and reported significantly worse results compared to the general population (Figure 1). Figure 1. Physical component score (PCS) and Mental component score (MCS) of the SF-36 showed a negative correlation with DAS28 (β= -8.28, p= &lt;0.001 and β= -6.2, p= &lt;0.001, respectively). Patients with remission or LDA exhibited better SF-36 scores compared to the other subgroups; moreover, patients with MDA had better SF-36 scores than those with HDA (Table 1). When patients with MDA were further divided into low- and high-moderate disease activity (DAS28: 3,21-4,19 and 4,2-5,1, respectively), no significant difference in any SF-36 domain was found between the two groups. Table 1. SF-36 domain mean±SD RDA or LDA 51% MDA 37,2% HAD 11,7% p-value PF 48,43 ±34,23 32,14 ±19,83 20 ± 19,75 0.003 RP 34,9 ±43,68 20,71 ± 32,92 0 ± 0 0.015 BP 51,2 ±30,47 28,24 ± 24,49 18,86 ± 23,54 &lt;0.001 GH 48,83 ±45 41,57 ± 24,25 32,27 ± 19,54 0.043 VT 49,48 ±22,22 34,14 ± 18,57 30,91 ± 15,94 0.001 SF 52,16 ±35,33 40,36 ± 27,13 28,41 ± 14,89 0.041 RE 39,01 ±44,68 27,62 ± 40,81 18,18 ± 34,52 0.246 MH 54,08 ±23,24 47,57 ± 21,75 40 ± 18,59 0.124 Conclusion HRQoL assessed by SF-36 is dampened in RA patients, in both physical and mental component. Disease activity had a negative impact on both physical and mental components of HRQoL. Patients with remission or LDA showed better HRQoL outcomes, suggesting that the treat-to-target approach may also positively affect QoL. References [1]Ware, J. E., Jr, &amp; Gandek, B. (1998) Journal of clinical epidemiology , 51 (11), 903–912. [2]Pappa E et al. Qual Life Res. 2005 Jun;14(5):1433-8 Disclosure of Interests None declared